Withering Blossom
by arrasails1977
Summary: A one-shot of the night that Yomi was killed.


_This is purely my interpretation of the night that Yomi was killed. I haven't finished reading the manga yet, and the anime didn't really tell us that much, so I may be completely off the wall with this. Please pardon the silliness!_

**Withering Blossom**

Yomi clasped her hands together as she prayed silently for the safe return of Takashiro and his men.

Takashiro had left almost two weeks before, following orders from the royal court to eradicate demons who were invading a neighbouring village. She knew very well that he was powerful and perfectly capable of taking care of himself; however, that knowledge did not prevent a part of her heart dying every time he left to go on one of these dangerous missions.

She, as a member of the Giou clan, along with Takashiro, Ario and Reiga, were known as the Four Saints, and were the protectors of their village and all of the people who lived there. Ario was older than them, so was their leader and a little apart from them. She, Reiga and Takashiro had grown up together, so had been friends all of their lives.

Ario was away on court business, so in Takashiro's absence, it fell to Reiga and Yomi to take care of the village while they were away. She was pleased that the last two weeks had been uneventful, however, that had meant that she had just had more time to dwell on her worries about Takashiro and how he was faring.

She shook her head, smiling to herself at her foolishness. She was worrying unnecessarily and having these thoughts could only jinx her comrade's mission.

She turned and began the familiar routine of the tea ceremony. This was one of the things that relaxed her when she was feeling stress and Reiga would be there soon to share the afternoon tea with her.

She thought with some fondness of Reiga and of how he was trying to deal with the mutters and gossip that inevitably followed him around. She knew it wasn't easy for him, being part human and part demon; he had had to deal with it all of his life but with Takashiro's help, she was sure that he would eventually come through.

Her head shot up as she heard panicked shouts from outside in the courtyard, followed by running outside her room.

She stood and walked to the door as it slid open. "Manami, what is it? What is happening?" she asked of the servant on the other side.

"Yomi-hime," Manami said a panicked expression on her weathered face. "There are demons here."

"What?" Yomi exclaimed in shock. "Has Reiga been informed?"

Manami shook her head in denial. "We can't find Reiga-sama; he's not anywhere to be found."

A cold feeling of dread ran up Yomi's spine and she felt a little sick. For demons to be in the village, despite the barrier that the Four Saints protected, she was afraid that Reiga may very well have come to some harm.

"Manami, try and get as many of the children as possible, away from here," she directed. This was all down to her now to deal with.

"Yes, Yomi-hime," the elderly woman replied, bowing respectfully as she turned away to do as she was bid.

Yomi turned to the large chest inside the room and opened it, the hinges creaking with age. She lifted out the precious cargo inside, which was wrapped ceremoniously. Laying it on the floor, she unwrapped it and lifted her sword from its cover.

She turned to the door, sword clutched in hand as she prepared to fight to protect her people.

* * *

><p>Yomi limped into one of the only rooms that had not yet been obliterated by the fires and demons raging outside. Breathing heavily, she clutched weakly at her side, where the last demon she had fought had caught her a glancing blow.<p>

She felt a sense of panic rising within her; with Takashiro away from the village and Ario also away at court, it only left she and Reiga to defend their family. She hadn't seen Reiga while she was fighting the demons and wondered despairingly whether he was still alive.

She felt tears well in her eyes at the thought of her childhood friend no longer being of this world, but suppressed them fiercely. She didn't have time now to grieve; the people of the village were depending on her to save them. Too many of them had already been murdered and she would not allow any more to die in vain. The time for grieving would come later.

She heard a faint sound from behind her and spun around, cursing herself at not checking to make sure no demons were in the room before she entered. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight before her.

"Reiga!" He was alive.

She limped toward him. "Reiga, how did this happen? I don't know how they could have got past the barrier." She flinched and clutched at her side, bending slightly and clenching her eyes shut at the pain.

She breathed shallowly; she was sure that something was broken inside her but despite the pain she would still fight to the death to protect the people that relied on her. Still bent, she tilted her head upward toward her friend and opened her mouth to speak.

"Reiga –," she abruptly stopped.

He was slightly turned away from her, but in her current position, she could clearly see that he was shielding the Key of Raziel from her. She straightened gingerly, finally getting a proper look at his face. There was no expression on his face whatsoever as he stared impassively at her through his hooded, silver eyes.

"Reiga? What are you doing with that?" The book was never to leave its resting place and it was definitely never to be used; the Four Saints were to protect the book from anyone who would wish to use it for wrongdoing. She had herself only seen it a few times in her life, as it was locked away where nobody could easily get to it.

"We shouldn't be using that, even in this instance." She shook her head. "You need to put it back."

"I can't do that, Yomi," he whispered softly. A shiver went down her spine as he stared blankly at her. "I need the book to cleanse the sickness that has infected it, from this world."

She stared back at him, no longer feeling the pain in her side, as a deeper pain was taking root inside her heart. "You didn't do this, Reiga, did you? You wouldn't have betrayed our family like this to get a hold of that book."

Despite her words, a part of this felt anti-climactic; she had secretly pondered whether Reiga would eventually show the demon part of his lineage by betraying them, but Takashiro had always been fierce in his defence of his friend and she had been left feeling disloyal at the thoughts that had often assailed her.

No words of denial were forthcoming from him and she shook her head in despair. "Reiga, how could you do this? We trusted you; you are one of us!" she cried.

She thought she saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes before they turned blank again. He tilted his head questioningly to one side. "You never believed that, did you Yomi? You never really trusted me and you never really accepted me as one of you. I was just something to keep close so that I could be watched. I spent all of my childhood being ridiculed for my heritage. I was never a true member of the Giou clan."

He stepped closer to her, a faintly entreating expression on his face. "But I am willing to forgive you for that, Yomi. Come with me. We can be together and we can fulfil our true destiny." He reached a slender hand out toward her in supplication and she recoiled violently as though burned.

"What are you saying? You have murdered half of the people in this village and you expect me to condone that? I will never follow you, Reiga!" she said fiercely.

She stepped back from him. "I am not letting you leave here with that book," she said harshly. "Give it back to me now and prove that Takashiro wasn't wrong to trust you all these years."

She saw his eyes close and watched as he swallowed convulsively.

"Reiga," she said more softly. "I know deep down that you want to do what's right." She stepped toward him, sure that she was getting through to him. She reached a hand out toward him and watched as his arm dropped to his side, the book falling as he did so. "We'll deal with this, Reiga; Takashiro will know what to do."

She stood before him and he gazed down at her, a pained expression on his face as he watched her as though committing her face to memory. He sighed heavily, grimacing as though in pain. "I wish you were right, Yomi. You have no idea how much I wish you were right."

She gasped as she felt a sharp pain; this wasn't the same as the pain from a broken rib; it was sharp and hot and she looked down in disbelief at his hand as it held on to the knife that he had pushed into her chest.

As though from far away, she felt his arms come around her as her knees buckled beneath her. He held her to him, cradling her as he lowered her almost tenderly to the floor. She coughed, tasting blood in her throat, tears running from her eyes as she stared at him.

"I'll make it quick, Yomi," Reiga said, an almost tortured look on his face as he watched her suffering. He quickly raised a hand to her face and covered her nose and mouth. She struggled feebly, grasping at his arms as she tried in vain to fight him off, staring at him all the time. He clenched his teeth at the sight and closed his eyes until she stopped struggling.

When all was finally silent, he took his hand away from her face and noticed that it was shaking. He ran a hand gently through her hair as he watched the pale, still face of the woman he had always loved; if only she had loved him back.

He stood shakily and turned his back on the thing that had been most important to him and walked to where he had dropped the Key of Raziel. He picked it up and turned toward the open veranda, staring at the sight of the blazing sakura tree before him. It was the one that Takashiro had often likened to him and he felt for the first time as though his heart were as ablaze as the now dying tree.

The door behind him slammed open and he turned to see Takashiro standing there. He hadn't noticed Reiga yet; he was gazing in horror at the body of Yomi as she lay where Reiga had left her, lifeless and limp.

"Yomi..." he heard him whisper in shock. As he raced toward her, Reiga sent a beam of light at his once-closest friend and ripped open Takashiro's face, causing blood to explode from the wound.

Takashiro fell back in pain, clutching at his face as he looked in Reiga's direction. Reiga was almost silhouetted before the blazing tree and Takashiro looked at him in horror; both at the very apparent attack on him, and at Yomi's blood that covered Reiga.

"Reiga!" he breathed, still clutching at his face. "Did you do this?" Ignoring him, Reiga turned his back on him. "Wait! Reiga!"

Reiga's voice came quietly, almost overpowered by the sound of the burning trees behind him. "You were too late."

A beam fell inside the room and Takashiro recoiled. When he looked back, Reiga was gone.


End file.
